That new roundup gel

Wicken is something that some of us refer to as couch grass, and it has a lot of other names too.

Roundup gel will kill anything that is green and growing. When a few people say that it doesn't work, that is because they have not followed the instructions, or have not read the numerous posts on here saying that it takes a long time to work, and are being far too impatient. If you want to do the job properly you need to be patient.

I've tried this product on several different plants, ranging from brambles to reeds, and it has always been successful.

I haven't actually used it to get rid of couch grass, but I believe that it would work. The difficulty would be applying the product to the individual stems of grass. This could be done by resting a stem against the palm of a gloved hand, and brushing the gel onto the stem using the free hand (that's how I applied it to reeds). It would be very tedious if you have a lot of couch grass, but it will succeed.

The speed that Roundup works is dependent on sunlight levels and growth rates. Now would not be the most effective time to apply, but you could still give it a try.

Bought this dab it on gel and found it very hard to apply. Some dandelions had seeded themselves in my asparagus and i needed to be careful with the weedkiller and thought this was a good idea. Was better when i left pot udside down for a few minutes before using it. Put it on plants about 5 weeks ago and only just seeing the dandelion die down. Very expensive and i did wonder if all the rain we had might have washed it off.

I swear by verdone.....it's brilliant. Spray the weed and it encourages the weed to grow that fast that in doing so it kills itself. Spray directly on to weeds in the grass and it doesn't touch the grass. It really is amazing and much better than anything else I've tried. You have to spray the weed whilst it has good leaf growth and when dry....

I'm going to give it a try - after reading the posts here. Yours were extremely helpful Gary. I inherited a huge area of around 100 x blueberry bushes and 50 x raspberries. It was backbreaking getting them into shape after years of neglect but the dreaded nettles still have a stronghold. If this targets the weed and leaves the root of the fruits alone I'll be delighted. I'll report back.

Maggie I don't rate Roundup of any kind -I find Resolva much more efficient. It's dearer but really works quickly. With the kind of problem you've got it might be worth investing in it, as you could just leave the most important areas and target the really bad bits.

Thanks Fairygirl! I'll look into that too....... but is it something you target on like a gel? As the nettles grow prolifically in between the branches of the blueberries and the rasp canes..... I couldn't risk using a spray or I'd hit the fruit.

For other areas on the farm I use Clinic Ace which is very effective but vicious and needs to be used with caution. Cheers!

I used Round up gel last year when I had bind weed winding through a group of clematis. Obviously spraying was out. Initially I thought it hadn't worked but It took longer than I thought but it completely cleared it and my clematis were intact

Roundup gel may be new but there was tumbleweed gel years ago. All glyphosate as far as I remember. Useful for those dandelions deep inside something else but it would take a long time to de-weed a garden.

I'm very worried about round up gel. If, as it says in the adverts, just a dab on a leaf kills the weed, and, as not mentioned in the advert but written on the bottle, it should be kept away from pets and children, how safe is it really to use in our gardens? A caterpillar, a natural food source for nesting birds, would presumably be infected and consequently the bird and its offspring could be poisoned not to mention wild rabbits etc. I realise weedkiller in general has the same effect but somehow this sounds more potent. Shouldn't we all be using something more wildlife friendly!

I have (last year) used glyphosate successfully to remove couch grass from MIL's garden. I had glyphosate in an old window cleaner sprayer, and, armed with a pair of rubber gloves and a bucket, I have gone to each clump, sprayed a bit of glyphosate onto the ends of two fingers on my right hand, held over the bucket to avoid drips, and shaken my hand to remove any last drops so the glove is just wet. I have then rubbed some leaves of the grass bwtween my fingers (no need to cover them all - a 25% coverage is enough), and then moved on to the next clump.

marshm- I've often thought that myself. I always try and rinse it out but of course it's going down drain, but at least it's well diluted by the time it gets anywhere. I only use it when it's really necessary - dandelions are a real problem in domestic gardens, especially as they get into every little tight spot, and not evryone looks after their plot either

Gold1locks-that sounds like a very efficient method, time consuming though!

I have been dabbing roundup on all the dandelions in my garden for the last two weeks and up to now they are all doing very well thank you.To date this product has not killed a single plant to say I'm a bit disappointed is an under statement

I to have paid £8 on the so called weed killer after strugling to get it onto the weeds i waited and waited then got my "Grandpas Weeder " out of the shed and got the weeds out with that omplete waste of money

I'm utterly amazed that anybody in their right mind would want to use this stuff. And in gardens?!! You must all be mad -- have you read any of the research on what's in it, and what it's likely to do to you and to your garden soil? Or is anything permissible in the grand cause of tidiness?

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